Tigre, Argentina

Ignoring the quick return to pick up our bags, we have technically left BA after a lovely week or so. We did manage to get to the Polo Cup Final. I think we were very very lucky as all the tickets had been sold when we arrived at the ground, but outside the ground there were lots of poor fellows who had obviously been stood up by lots of friends as they had lots of tickets to sell and at only twice the face value. It was a exciting match and we were slightly more prepared so it was more of a better experience than the semi-final for both of us. During the game, one of the millionaire, part time model, best player in the world types, fell off his horse rather badly and it was lovely to see his Mum run on the field to see if he was alright. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Mums ran on the pitch every time a footballer rolled around in pain. There would be fake tans, nasty gold jewellery and Louis Vuitton handbags as far as the eye can see.

Whilst in BA we were also pleasantly surprised to find that JJ and Jen were passing through. Obviously they had the 'bad idea bears' in tow, and we were all encouraged to think that staying out until 3 am, drinking cheap wine and practicing our Spanish on vagrants, on a school night, was a good idea. Jodie was sensible enough to skive school then next day. I attended but was so poor at engaging that the teacher and other students took to waving their hands over the desk in front of me as if moving a computer mouse in order to get me out of my obvious 'screen saver mode'. Still, it could have been worse; we could have been with JJ and Jen, getting up V early to catch a plane that was then delayed. Time spent hanging around hot foreign airports whilst dealing with a hangover and covered in alcohol based slime is never fun.

The are a couple of other BA peculiarities worth mentioning. Firstly I am convinced that the only pop music available is sourced from British car boot sales. In supermarkets, blaring from passing cars, on buses and pretty much everywhere else, we have been accompanied by Nina's 99 red balloons, Nick Kershaw hits, Europe's greatest hits and various one hit wonders best forgotten. I am sure we have not heard a thing from this centaury. There is also a tendency for all 'supermarkets' to be run by ill mannered, hostile Chinese families. I say families deliberately as it seems that they are not complete unless they have at least one semi naked toddler running up and down the isles and a baby trying to scream the house down behind the tills. I only tolerate it because a litre of beer is about 60p and a bottle of OK wine £2. In fact they are so cheap I had to ask the grumpy fat bloke behind the till if the prices were in Ar$ or US $. If I had a better memory for foreign words I am certain I would now know the Chinese word for tosser.

We left BA on Mon and travelled the hour north to Tigre, which is the main town on the edge of the Plate Delta. At the weekends about 80,000 visitors pop up, but during the week it is a calm and quiet place. We are staying in a B&B which is a lovely old family house, full of wood and high ceilings, with a pool in a lovely garden shared with humming birds (the garden, not the pool) and all for about £30. On a recommendation from the owners we spent the day in the Delta with a company called Delta Unplugged. It all sounds rather grand but was in fact fantastically 'garden shed'. Ana ( Argentinean from Patagonia) and Ralph (Swiss, and an ex chef on cargo ships) have a small house in the Delta and a smaller boat that takes 6 passengers around the waterways of the Delta, which are beautiful. Luckily for us, one of their dogs has been rather ill and costing a fortune in vets bills. This means that they are in need of cash so cancelled their day off to take us and two other couples on the trip. Ana is one of the most lively and enthusiastic people on the planet and Ralph is a fantastic cook, so we had a fantastic day out, exploring the waterways, chatting and eating very well.

We return to BA tomorrow to pick up bags the start a 21 hour coach trip to Iguazu falls. No, that is not a typo, we really are spending 21 hours on a bus. Luckily, this is not Europe where coach travel involves 2 inches of legroom, expensive service stations and a constant smell of either chemicals or urine (depending on how far into the trip you are) coming from the loo. We have wide, lie flat beds, TV's, 3 meals and complementary wine, beer, 'whiskey' and 'champagne'. Ana informed us that they are so good a 4 day trip is easy. Mmm - not so sure about that.

We will be off the blog for a few days but hope that everyone is enjoying the run up to Christmas. Whilst we are both missing out on the good bits of Christmas - time with a families - we are not missing the worst bits of the UK Christmas build up. It seems that a few discreet decorations a couple of weeks before Christmas is enough here. There are no garish shop windows, no shopping frenzy and so far I have seen no overweight slappers leave Christmas parties wearing Bacardi Breezer stained clothes more appropriate for an Ibiza summer, flash their bits then throw up in a gutter; not sure if that is a good or bad thing.